Through Her Stomach
by writergirl3005
Summary: Steve's grandmother was fond of saying that a way to a man's heart was his stomach. Steve hopes that the same would be true for women, and is determined to woo Diana Prince through his cooking. Written for the wondertrevnet Valentines's Day AU event.
1. Chapter 1

Prompt: "hi we're neighbours and omg are you alright i could smell cooking burning - whoaaa now that's just embarrassing? step aside i'll handle this"

* * *

Diana cursed once more as she stared at the contents in the pot in dismay. How had she managed to screw this up? Pasta wasn't supposed to be hard! And this was instant pasta!

She sighed as she flopped down onto one of the stools in front of her counter. She laid her head in her arms on the bench. How was she supposed to even learn to cook if she couldn't even make a simple instant pasta?

It was then that she read the knock on the door. "Ms Prince? I smelt something burning. Are you alright?"

Diana got up from the door and went to open the door. "Hello, Steve," she said with a smile on her face as she greeted her neighbour. "How many times I have told you to call me Diana?"

He gave her a sheepish smile. "I'm sorry, force of habit," he said. He peered over her shoulder into her apartment. "I smelt something burning, and I just wanted to check and see if you're alright."

Diana's smile was tight. "Just another failed attempt at learning how to cook," she said shortly.

"Um," said Steve, shifting his weight from one foot to another. "Do you want some help? I do know how to cook, and I can teach you if you want."

Diana stepped aside and let him into her apartment. "That would be lovely Steve. Come on in."

She noticed that Steve had to bite his lips to stop himself from bursting out into laughter when he saw the state of the kitchen. "You're the burn water type, aren't you?" he said, unable to fight the grin that had formed on his face.

Well, at least he didn't laugh. Diana rolled her eyes. "I am well aware of my deficiencies in the kitchen," she said. "That was why I wanted to learn how to cook."

"Well, you would learn much better if you had someone helping you," said Steve. "I'll bring over some stuff from my apartment, and we can make a simple pasta dish together."

Diana crossed her arms. "Simple by your definition, or by mine?" It was a valid question to ask. Steve was an excellent cook - she could tell by the delicious smells that wafted over from his apartment. That was part of the reason she cultivated a friendship with him - in the hopes that she might one day actually get to taste his cooking. It was then she realised something - why was she even questioning this? Steve was in her apartment, offering to teach her to cook. She should take it!

Diana shook her head and grinned. "In any case, I would love to get some lessons from you. Maybe I would be able to move up from 'burns water' to 'makes fives dishes'".

Steve laughed. "I really hope so. I'll see you in a few minutes, Diana."

* * *

Steve willed his heart to stop thumping so fast. He was actually going to be able to spend time with Diana Prince! And if this cooking lesson went well, she might ask him to teach her some more!

His grandmother would always say that a way to a man's heart was through his stomach, and he hoped that it would be the same for women as well.

He quickly gathered up the ingredients he would need and placed them in a basket. Diana might not ever fall for him, but it can't hurt to try.


	2. Chapter 2

"So, we're making pasta tonight?" asked Diana, eyeing the ingredients that Steve had laid out on the counter. They had agreed to have dinner together afterwards. She did want to know Steve better after all.

"Yup," he said. "Since you were planning on having pasta, and I had the ingredients available, I thought, why not?"

"I thought people who could cook won't use premade sauces," said Diana, picking up a jar that was filled with a red sauce. She didn't know enough about cooking to tell what it was.

"When we don't have time or energy to cook, we do," said Steve. "But the jar you're holding is not a premade sauce. It's from a batch of sauce that I made a couple of weeks ago."

Diana raised her eyebrows. "A couple of weeks ago?"

Steve nodded. "Yes, I make a big batch of pasta sauce, and I freeze it in these jars. It'll keep for a few months, and I can have several meals from that." He carefully opened the jar. "Well, as long as you store it properly and use the correct containers, it will be good to eat for a few months afterwards." He sniffed at the sauce in the jar. "This is still good."

Diana had no idea that food can be kept frozen for so long. It seemed as if she had a lot more to learn about cooking than she had initially thought.

There were several vegetables in the basket as well; Diana suspected that they would be for the sauce.

Diana took her cutting board and had started to chop the vegetables when Steve stopped her.

She shot him a glare. "I'm competent enough to cut vegetables, Steve," she said.

"I know that," said Steve soothingly. "But there is an easier way to cut vegetables."

A light blush dusted his cheeks. "Um, I would need to put my hands on yours so that I can show you-" The blush on his face intensified. "I mean, I can show how it's done, but I think it will be better- I mean easier for you to pick up-"

It was Diana's turn to suppress a grin. She smiled at him and said, "That will be alright Steve. Anything that will make it easier for me to learn."

She enjoyed how warm his hands were when he placed them on top of hers. And the technique that Steve taught her did make it easier and faster to cut her vegetables.

Over the course of preparing the meal, Steve gave Diana so many tips that her head was spinning.

"You don't need to put oil in the pot to stop the pasta from sticking. Just swirl the water around; that'll be enough."

"You shouldn't cook the pasta all the way in the water; finish it cooking in the sauce."

"You always have to taste the food. Taste every time you add something."

"It's always better to add salt and pepper a little at a time. You can always add more if it's not enough. Not so easy to fix if it's too much."

It didn't take Steve very long to see how overwhelmed Diana was. The blush returned to his face in full force. "Sorry," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I get really excited about cooking. And when I get excited, I ramble a lot. So sorry about overwhelming you."

Diana laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It's fine Steve. I understand."

He gave a sigh of relief and turned his attention to the stove once again. "How about a side dish..."

Diana had planned on just making a salad, but Steve managed - with only the ingredients that she already had in her refrigerator - to make some garlic bread. He ducked his head and shuffled from one foot to the other, his face red when she praised him. He mumbled a thanks and quickly occupied himself with the cooking once more.

Diana found his reactions adorable.

She did manage to make one useful contribution to the dinner, though. She knew a lot about wine. She was tempted to use a bottle of Pinot Noir but decided against it. She would use it once she started dating Steve - if they even get to that stage in the first place. So she chose a Chardonnay instead.

They had a pleasant conversation over dinner, and got to know each other better. Steve wanted to help with the washing up as well, but Diana insisted on doing it herself.

"I feel like I didn't contribute much to the cooking. So please let me do the washing up on my own," she said. It took some persuasion, but Steve eventually agreed.

"Maybe you can come this Saturday to teach me something else?" Diana asked. "If you're free, of course."

Steve pulled out his phone. "Let me just check my calendar first," he said. A few taps later, he looked up from his phone and grinned. "Yep, Saturday works for me. Do you have any dish that you would want to try out?"

"Something simple," said Diana. "I want to start small. But I think it will be better if you pick the dish. I wouldn't know what is simple and what isn't."

Steve laughed. "Alright, then. I'll see you Saturday?"

"Saturday. If nothing comes up at work, that is." She really hoped that her superhero life wouldn't intrude then. _Please, Aphrodite_, she thought. _Just let me have this one night._

Steve nodded in understanding. "It'll be fine if you have unexpected work on that day. The number of times I've been dragged out of bed in the middle of the night is astounding."

After a final round of goodbyes, Steve left.

Diana couldn't wait until morning. She had a lot to talk about during her weekly conversation with Lois.


End file.
